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I really only felt conspicuous the first three months or so (and you're in luck - we're in a pandemic, so not many people are meeting up for meals ANYWAY -- so it's likely to be just your family). After that, I could usually find something on any given menu that I could eat, and I'd usually order something like soup, chili, or an appetizer. If anyone said anything, I'd just say I wasn't that hungry. Although I have skinny friends who usually eat like that, so I rarely was asked. at this point, and really for the last three years, I eat pretty much like my never-been-obese women friends who are watching their calories. Sometimes if I'm not particularly hungry I'll still order something like soup or an appetizer - otherwise I'll order a "safe" entree and eat half of it. I'll take the other half to go and eat it the next day. if you're talking about meals with your family, that never bothered me. It's just me and my husband at my house. He ate his thing and I ate mine. After the first few weeks or so, we'd eat the same thing - but he'd eat more of it, of course - and I'd also give him something like a potato or rice with his.

Just as you shed water weight during your 3 days with minimal intake, your body is re-balancing its hydration level now that you are drinking again. It may bounce around for a while before it settles down and you start seeing a steady downward trend.

I thought I'd log in with a few updates today. I started this process back on July 31st with a high weight of 284. I lost 34 lbs before surgery on Sept. 21st and weighed in at 233.2 this morning. The two big milestones are that I passed 50 lbs lost and I am now a BMI of 34, which means I'm only "obese" instead of "morbidly obese". I have a long way to go to my 180 target, but I am happy about the progress so far.

I feel like I need to share my experience with others, as I wish someone would have shared the same with me years ago. My weight loss started over 20 years ago, never stopped since, culminating with a gastric sleeve in 2017 (SW 360, CW 250, GW<200). After the WLS I've lost about 70 lbs and hit the plateau which lasted a few months. I tried breaking it with intensive gym, calories counting, but no real impact. As a result, I've lost motivation, and over the next 2 years gained about 30 lb back (late night snacks, sugary treats), which was a huge frustration. Having a sleeve - the best WL tool one may ever have - I felt like being a "regain" statistics, not an individual with life and willpower. I still had my "pouch" restriction, but after 30-40 minutes after having a meal I was ready to eat again. It lasted till last November, when I hit 290 lbs. The frustration turned into anger. I spent days to research diets and practices. As a result, I'm back on track, losing rapidly about 3-4 lbs a week, full of energy. Here are my 3 key pillars, which brought me back: 1. Low carb diet. After researching multiple trendy diets, KETO seemed to be the most promising one. But I didn't like the idea to consume lots of fats, and avoid vegetables. I'm an old-fashioned guy. So I adjusted the KETO idea by adding a decent daily portion of green veggies (zucchinis, asparagus, green pepper, kale - those which have nearly no sugars, but lots of fibers), and limited my fats to avocados, brazil nuts, eggs and fatty fish (salmon) - no huge amounts of bacon, butter, cheese and oils. For protein those above also provided enough, plus I have some lean pork, beef or chicken. That type of diet keeps my in permanent ketosis, while I still have a decent amount of fibers and healthy protein. My nutrients are around 50-60% of fats, 25-30% of proteins and 10-15% of carbs. 2. Intermittent fasting (IF), 18:6. It means my eating "window" is 1pm - 7pm, during which I have 3 meals. Personally I believe that low carbs diet and IF are made for each other. Being in ketosis I feel no hunger at all, as my insulin is very low. That makes IF a simple task. Also once a week I do a 42 hours fast by skipping meals on Sundays - right before my weight check on Monday morning! ). IF is also a solution to plateaus. I adjust the fasting time to 12:12 for a few days and do a long fast after (48+ hours) to reset. 3. CICO (calories in, calories out) is the 3rd pillar. Keeping everything written down is not just a good habit, but also makes me feel I control the process better. My daily intake is around 1,100-1,300 calories, which creates a huge weekly calories deficit for weight loss. One may consider it's a bit too low, and I would rather agree. I'll certainly increase my calories after hitting my goal. A few more tips from my experience: - After 40+ gym can't be the only solution. Keeping yourself active (especially with this pandemic) is important for general health, but unless I'm a professional athlete, 1-1.5 hour walk every day (outside or a treadmill) is good enough. - Staying hydrated is a must, healthy weight loss won't work without it. Tracking water was always a pain for me, I was forgetting to do that. Now I have 6 magnets next to my water cooler. Each time I refill my bottle, I move one magnet to the other side, which helps me to see how many refills left. No fuss with writing down, takes a fraction of a second to move the magnet - while keeps me fully informed. Helps a lot! - Supplements!!! Lots of them! Since I'm restricted and have rather a distorted diet, I need to fill the gap of minerals and nutrients. Multivitamins, husk fiber, omega-3, collagen, cumin, ox bile, Vitamin D, electrolytes etc. It's 18 pills per day, in 2 batches! My latest blood work returned perfect results - no deficiencies, and the lowest sugar level I ever had in my life. As a conclusion - no hunger, no frustration, no cravings, energetic, clear mind, active, positive - and still losing weight! I even think that it would be very doable without my WLS, but in fact a restricted stomach makes everything much easier. So much easier, then it feels sometimes I'm actually cheating in this weight-loss game! I do hope someone will find it helpful. I wish I knew that years ago, but better late than never.

I’m getting a sleeve in a few weeks. I know we’re supposed to be low carb while losing weight but once you’re in maintenance can you have pasta at all? I have celiac disease so I don’t eat any kind of bread, I’m not a big rice or potatoes person in general, but since my celiac diagnosis a year ago I’ve loved making homemade pasta from brown rice flour and chickpeas. It’s soooo good and I don’t want to give it up, especially since it took me so long to find a recipe I liked. Right now I probably have it once maybe twice a week. If I make sure I stay under my carbs/calorie limit for the day is there a problem with having pasta regularly? I just feel guilty since it’s a food we’re not supposed to eat traditionally

I’m almost 3 months postop and pasta sits like a rock in my gut, even small amounts. You’ll have to see how you tolerate it. It might be better for you than regular pasta, since it’s made with chickpea flour - more protein in it.

Mine was rescheduled from 12/17. So happy to be having surgery soon. Good luck to you. 🙂

If he can climb in the car, could he perhaps climb onto the seat in the car, then into his car seat? Can you make a game of it? Maybe hold your belly with one forearm, and hold his hand with the other? I wish you all the best, single parents are super mom's/ dad's.....x

I eat soybeans (edamame) instead of popcorn. Much healthier too!

I finally got the call around 3:10 pm today that my insurance has approved my surgery and I am going in on Monday. I have to be there at 5:30 am. I am excited and terrified at the same time. My hubby is just dropping me off since there is a no visitor policy in place. No point in missing a days work.